In today's world, there are numerous products and services available for purchase. There are also more choices than ever on how to purchase the products and services. For example a buyer can purchase items in a store or on the Internet, conventionally or through an auction process, using cash or other forms of payment, etc.
Sellers use various techniques to motivate buyers to make purchases. For example, sellers provide discount coupons, mark down prices during a sale, sponsor various inventory liquidation events and/or allow customers to bid on items in an auction. Many of these sales techniques encourage buyers to ‘hold out’ for anticipated low pricing, causing not only an erosion of profit margins for the seller, but also an increase in the inventory holding costs to a seller.
Sellers have embraced dynamic pricing, for example in the form of auctions, as a way to increased levels of interest from customers while maintaining desirable profit margins. Various types of auctions are known. The most common type of auction is an English auction where the bidder who places the highest bid over the reserve price, a price set by the seller, wins the item at the end of the bidding period. In a variation of the English auction known as a quick win auction, the auction ends when the bid reaches a predetermined threshold set by the seller. In a turbo auction, also a variation of the English auction, a starting price is specified, no reserve price is allowed and the highest bidder wins.
In a Dutch auction, the auctioneer begins with a high asking price that is lowered in increments. The price lowering continues until a bidder is willing to pay the asking price or a predetermined minimum price is reached. If multiple items are being sold, as successful bidders reserve their quantities to be purchased, the auctioneer continues lowering the asking price until all items are sold. In a uniform or second price auction (sometimes also called a Dutch auction) an item is awarded to the highest bidder at a price equal to the second highest bid. In a variation of the uniform price auction for multiple identical items (also sometimes called a Dutch or multiple auction), bidders specify their bids and how many of the available items they would like to purchase. At the end of the bidding-period all winning bidders pay the lowest winning bid per item. In a variation of the uniform price auction for multiple identical items, known as a Yankee auction, at the end of the bidding period all winning bidders pay their exact winning bid.
In a fixed price auction, a bidder who first bids the fixed price wins. In a variation of a fixed price auction, known as an auto markdown auction, the fixed price drops over time. In a Chinese auction, typically employed in a charity event with donated items, each bidder bids the same amount on an item, typically using a pre-printed ticket, and the winner is selected by lottery. The charity selects the winning bid from a pool of bids for the item. In a silent or sealed bid auction, all bids are secret and the highest bidder wins. In a procurement auction, a buyer puts out a request for proposal RFQ, providers offer progressively lower prices and at the end of the auction the lowest bid wins.
Despite their variety and their common acceptance and usage, auctions pose many problems for both buyers and sellers. In many types of auctions, the seller loses control of the final price of the auctioned item, which is determined by the bidder and auction process. Many types of auctions are competitive; forcing winning bidders to successfully compete against other bidders in a sometimes uncomfortable and expensive process. In many types of auctions, there is a waiting period between the time a bidder bids for an item and the time the bidder knows if his bid is successful, leaving the bidder in uncertainty. These characteristics often make existing auctions less than desirable for buyers and sellers of items.